How To Make Progress In Anything

Tony Schwartz shares that we get very little willpower when we wake up in the morning, and then we burn it on things that don’t help us (like holding down emotions or dealing with inner conflict).

Eban Pagan notes that the most valuable state is also the rarest, awareness. But it is in this state that we can use that willpower, however small, and make long term change.

The key is to build a ritual until it becomes a natural part of your day. Since there is more willpower available in the morning, it is important to take advantage of that time. It is also important to learn to martial that willpower towards one thing every morning that will help you reach your goals.

Bestselling author Jack Canfield says to practice the rule of five. He quotes Ron Scolastico who told him, “If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp ax eventually, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down.”

So how can we help boost this willpower to move towards our goals? Joseph McClendon shares it comes down to one thing, rehearsal. In your mind be the person you are working to become. Begin taking actions that person would take. Have the beliefs that person would have.

For instance, maybe you are out of shape. Most people who are out of shape continue to act and eat in a manner that is consistent with that image. The reason is that it is ingrained in their mind; it is their ritual and their belief about who they are.

The science of neurogenesis shows us that new neural connections are formed in the brain as we take new actions, and those connections are made stronger when those actions are repeated. (In NLP it is stated, “Neurons that fire together wire together.”)

Your brain literally ingrains a pathway through the neurons when you take action. That is why you don’t have to relearn how to drive a car each day, you remember how because the neural connections are strong. But how many words of a foreign language class from high school do you remember? The neural connections were simply weak and replaced by something else.

In making changes you are physically rewiring your brain. This is why rehearsal is so important. So if you are out of shape, begin to take the beliefs and actions of someone who is fit. Make decisions now as someone who is already in shape, no matter how far from your physical goals you may be.

Change is uncomfortable at first. One reason is the brain is simply not used to the new ritual. Remember how difficult it was to learn to drive a manual transmission? But once you learned the ritual, once you made the neural connections, once you had a belief about being able to drive, it became natural. This is true for every action.

So begin to see yourself now as the person you are attempting to become. Read what that person would read, act like that person would act, believe like that person would believe. Use willpower to your advantage and combine it with a powerful ritual.

Most importantly, keep taking swings at that tree, and know that eventually it will come down.